The All-Joe team was born in 1992 as a tribute to Joe Phillips, a 14-year defensive lineman who did yeoman's work for the Chiefs that season. His work in the trenches didn't lead to much glory unless you point to the 29 combined sacks of Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith, Kansas City's fifth-ranked defense or the team's wild-card run. USA TODAY has honored the unsung Joes of the NFL ever since.

With the attention paid to six-time Pro Bowl performer Tom Brady and the explosiveness of the New England Patriots offense since he became quarterback in 2001, the importance of the kicking position to this perennial AFC power is easy to overlook. But not for Shayne Graham.

When you're a Seattle Seahawk, sometimes it takes a little while longer. Whether it's in traveling to a road game, fine-tuning the roster, or, most recently, earning league-wide respect and national attention, patience is imperative.

Auburn (13-0) and Oregon (12-0) unbeaten football teams and schools with rich histories and traditions play for the Bowl Championship Series national title in Glendale, Ariz. It would be the first BCS title for either school, and while you debate the strengths of both on the field, USA TODAY's Bob Kimball compares and contrasts the two in other categories:

The Saints who rode home-field advantage to the Super Bowl last season as the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed likely won't even have another game at the Louisiana Superdome this season as they enter postseason as a wild-card entrant.

The signs are all there if Todd Haley decides to cross his fingers and hope history is repeating itself. In many ways, his Kansas City Chiefs seem to be playing out the same underdog scenario that turned the 2008 Arizona Cardinals into unlikely Super Bowl entrants.